Go Away, Hue. No One Wants To Hear From 3 Win You.

Fans of the Cleveland Browns have had a fun ride over the last 12 months. After wandering around in the desert that is losing, new head coach Kevin Stefanski came aboard and took the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

The team finished 11-5, the most victories for the franchise since 1994, when Bill Belichick was guiding the brown and orange.

With the NFL Draft coming to the city later this month, and the prospects of another winning season dancing in their collective heads, all is good if you are a pro football fan in northeastern Ohio. Heck, the Browns are even mentioned as, wait for it, Super Bowl contenders.

So, with all of those things being positive, something had to poop on the good feelings.

Hue Jackson reared his ugly head.

Why? We guess to remind everyone what a terrible dysfunctional organization the Browns, still owned by Jimmy Haslam used to be, even as recently as four years ago.

Jackson came aboard when Sashi Brown was put in charge of the organization, and his strategy was to stop putting bandages on things and strip the roster down to an expansion team level. Basically starting over.

Brown traded a lot of veterans and accumulated draft picks. We have to imagine Jackson was told what was going to happen when he took the gig, so he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Other teams have followed the same strategy in recent years, notably the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. WIth Todd Bowles leading the Jets, they still won four games in their worst season (we aren’t counting the 2020 season, when they supposed had their quarterback), and Miami went 5-11 in Brian Flores’ first season at the helm, after the team gutted their roster.

Jackson went 1-31 over a two year span. We bring up those other teams to show it is difficult to be that bad in the NFL. Usually, the worst teams win at least three games.

Not the Browns though. They won one stinking game over a two year period.

What’s worse is Jackson used his position, reporting directly to ownership (part of the dysfunction) to complain about Brown and the plan he appears to have signed up for. That led to Brown being fired and John Dorsey coming to Cleveland as the GM.

Dorsey famously brought in Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward, and Nick Chubb in the draft and of course, traded for Odell Beckham Jr. The rest of the draft picks both in 2018 and 2019 have not really been franchise changers, the best of the lot might be LB Sione Takitaki.

Anyway, the complaining about Brown which brought forth Dorsey, basically cost Jackson his job, because the new GM didn’t like the coaching the next year (2018) and fired Jackson after a 33-18 loss to the Steelers. Remember, Dorsey also traded Carlos Hyde during the year because Jackson was playing him instead of Chubb, who went on to gain 996 yards this season.

That’s how we see Jackson’s legacy as a head coach in Cleveland. Among coaches who have coaches at least a full season with the Browns, including men who coached just one season here, Jackson has the least victories with three.

Rob Chudzinski won four. Gregg Williams, the interim coach who took over for Jackson, won five. Even the much maligned Freddie Kitchens won six.

Go away Hue. Things are looking up for the franchise and its fans as the 2021 draft approaches. You have your place in the history of the Cleveland Browns, and it’s not good.

Tracking The Browns Rebuild

Now that the Cleveland Browns have returned to being a good football team, the discussions about who should get the credit for the success rages on for some folks.

This rebuilding process started following the 2015 season when Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer were let go and replaced by Sashi Brown, a lawyer who came out of nowhere to be the de facto GM of the Browns.

Brown’s plan was essentially to stop putting bandages on the roster every season and to start from scratch. He traded or released just about every veteran, and armed the organization with a bunch of draft picks.

Hue Jackson was hired as the head coach, and we would think he was informed what was about to happen to the roster.

The plan was at the time unheard of, no team had done this in the NFL, although to Sashi’s credit, it seems like subsequently, the Dolphins, Jets, and now the Jaguars are doing the same thing.

Cleveland had the second overall pick in ’16, and Brown traded that pick to Philadelphia (which became Carson Wentz) and the Browns wound up with WR Corey Coleman. The team did draft Emmanuel Ogbah, Carl Nassib, Joe Schobert, and WR Rashard Higgins, who is still contributing.

The result of the total rebuild in the first year was a 1-15 record, which netted the organization the first overall pick in 2017, and they selected Myles Garrett. Critics will point out they passed on Patrick Mahomes (10th overall) and could have selected Deshaun Watson at #12, but they traded down to get more picks.

Cleveland also got Jabrill Peppers and David Njoku in the first round and DT Larry Ogunjobi in the third round.

The rebuild got sidetracked with Jackson, unhappy with the losing, although again, we have to assume he knew the plan, complained to owner Jimmy Haslam (probably a lot). Brown was fired and replaced with “football guy” John Dorsey, formerly a GM with Kansas City.

Dorsey brought a “win now” mentality with him and after an 0-16 season, selected QB Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick in ’18, CB Denzel Ward with the 4th overall pick, and used a 2nd rounder to get Nick Chubb, three main cogs of the 2020 Browns.

Beyond that trio, the rest of the draft was a flop. No players remain on the roster. Still, the three who stayed are pretty good.

However, after a 7-8-1 season that featured wins in five of the last seven games, Dorsey got greedy (figuratively) and traded his first round pick, Peppers, and his starting right guard in Kevin Zeitler for WR Odell Beckham and DE Olivier Vernon.

However, his biggest mistake was thinking the chemistry of the offensive coordinator, who took over when Jackson and his OC, Todd Haley was fired mid-season, and Mayfield was enough to make Freddie Kitchens the head coach.

Meanwhile, chief strategy office Paul DePodesta, who came to the organization with Sashi Brown, wanted to hire Minnesota assistant Kevin Stefanski.

While bringing in Beckham, the rest of Dorsey’s draft that year hasn’t been impressive. Second rounder CB Greedy Williams, while showing promise, has been injured, and the next best player is LB Sione Takitaki, who is serviceable.

After Kitchens was given the gate following a 6-10 season, it seems like Dorsey left the organization because his voice wasn’t the most prominent during the coaching search, which wound up in the hands of Stefanski, DePodesta’s choice all along.

Andrew Berry, also part of the Sashi Brown front office was brought back, this time as GM.

His first draft appears to be a good one, with OT Jedrick Wills being a starter from day one, and several contributors with upside, notably LB Jacob Phillips, TE Harrison Bryant, and WR Donovan Peoples-Jones.

And don’t forget S Grant Delpit, who figured to start before his achilles injury in camp.

Sashi laid out the plan and he, DePodesta, and Berry started to lay it out before the ownership got impatient. Dorsey made the bad hire as head coach, but did bring in Mayfield, Ward, and Chubb, and the Browns aren’t 10-4 without them.

He didn’t fill out the roster though, but Berry came back to take care of that, adding solid free agents in T Jack Conklin and TE Austin Hooper.

The question is, could this success have arrived a year or so ago had DePodesta got his way and hired Stefanski after 2018? Thankfully, it was just a one year delay.

Are Haslams Capable Of Continuity?

Sometimes, being a fan of the Cleveland Browns is to have no hope.

That stems straight from the top, owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.

We believe that they honestly want to win. We also believe there are great players who want to win, but the thing they have in common is neither knows how to accomplish that goal.

Since 2016, the Haslams put Sashi Brown in charge of the team, knowing his strategy was to strip down the team in regards to talent and do a total rebuild. Accumulate a ton of draft choices, open up a ton of salary cap space, and slowly build the Browns back, sort of like an expansion team.

Sashi Brown told everyone there would be a lot of losing, and there was. However, the coach, Hue Jackson, and the ownership, freaked out because of the lack of wins, and they fired Brown, and brought in proven NFL executive John Dorsey.

In less than a year, Dorsey got rid of Jackson, and brought in some talented players through the draft, and some questionable players too. Cleveland went 7-8-1, and then Dorsey tried to accelerate the process, but tried with a rookie head coach in Freddie Kitchens.

Kitchens wasn’t equipped to handle a team that people thought should be a playoff team right away. Could he and the GM had corrected this with a second season? Maybe, but they won’t get that chance.

So, now they will begin again with a new cast of characters. Apparently, Chief Strategy Office Paul DePodesta will be guiding the new coaching search, and that coach will be part of the search for the new general manager.

That would seem to make DePodesta and the coach to be in charge. So, you have to wonder if the Browns start winning, if the coach grabs the ear of the ownership and gets DePodesta erased.

Could this work? Of course, but based on the past, one has to wonder what happens if winning isn’t an instantaneous thing for the 2020 Cleveland Browns. That’s because the Haslams haven’t had the stomach to see any plan through.

We were never part of the hero worship Dorsey received when he came aboard during the 2017 campaign. He spouted things like getting “real football players” when there were clearly some of them (Myles Garrett, Joe Schobert, among others) on the roster.

It was a shot at Sashi Brown’s analytic approach, which DePodesta was part of.

However, Dorsey put talent ahead of everything in terms of player acquisition, and it came back to bite the team because the effort of several players in the last three games of the season were found to be wanting, and you had discipline issues with others.

Those things undermined the rookie head coach that Dorsey selected.

So, now it’s another restart for the Browns, but how long will this front office structure be in place, especially if Cleveland spends another season without a playoff appearance in 2020.

And that’s our biggest issue. Some turnarounds are quick, like the Rams going from 4-12 to 11-5 to 13-3 and a Super Bowl appearance.

Others have some setbacks, like the Bills 6-10 season last year after a playoff berth in 2017. They went 10-6 and back to the post-season this year.

The Browns 6-10 record could have been the same scenario as Buffalo last season, but John Dorsey won’t find that out.

The bigger question is knowing the past of this ownership group, who takes a job knowing they could be jettisoned after a single season.

Can the Haslams change? If they can’t, any success the Browns may have in the future might just be pure luck.

Jackson’s Dismissal Was Inevitable

Whether or not the news came yesterday, or next week, following the Chiefs game, it was inevitable. Hue Jackson was going to lose his job by the end of the 2018 season.

Really, it was only the ridiculous organizational set up the Browns have, where multiple people report directly to owner Jimmy Haslam, that allowed Jackson to have started this season at all, because we doubt GM John Dorsey would have kept Jackson on as head coach after going 1-31 in his two seasons here.

After winning two of the first five games this season, two consecutive losses had the “dysfunction” returning to Berea. There were reports nationally that offensive coordinator Todd Haley could be fired after Sunday’s game. That’s the kind of news that permeated the media a year ago.

Sashi Brown was gone, Dorsey was here now. The only common denominators to the feeling the organization was in chaos were Jackson and Haslam, and the owner wasn’t going anywhere.

That leaves Jackson, whose best attribute as head coach seemed to be blaming other people for the losing.

We have heard reports that Brown wasn’t the person making the decision to start DeShone Kizer last season at quarterback, we would have been fine going with veteran Brock Osweiler.

And as for real football players, as Dorsey said early in his tenure, don’t forget not all of the players who have played well for the Browns this season arrived before the 2018 season.

Myles Garrett, Joe Schobert, Christian Kirksey, Jamie Collins and others were on the roster, yet the Browns couldn’t win a single game.

The Buffalo Bills are rebuilding this season, going into the year with rookie Josh Allen and second year man Nathan Peterman at quarterback, and when Allen was injured, they signed former Brown, Derek Anderson.

They’ve already won two games this season.

Our point is it is hard to lose every game, and even more difficult to win one contest in two seasons.

Hue Jackson accomplished it.

In reality, the reason he was brought back for a third year was Haslam not wanting to be perceived as an owner who goes through coaches like he changes underwear. He may be the only person on the planet who would have brought Jackson back for a third season.

When the Browns drafted Baker Mayfield, we are sure they told him things would be different now with Dorsey in charge, but halfway through the year, it was back to the same old Browns routine.

It was surprising that offensive coordinator Todd Haley was let go as well, meaning the offense is now in the hands of running backs coach Freddie Kitchens, and we would guess Al Saunders will be helping him out.

And even more surprising is the appointment of Gregg Williams as the head coach, and maybe that’s why Haley was let go. Picking one of the coordinators over the other may have made it uncomfortable.

Going forward, the Haslams need to change the structure of the organization and commit to Dorsey by giving him the power to hire and fire coaches. That’s how most, if not all, NFL teams work.

This kind of stupidity should not happen again. Here’s hoping the changes make a positive impact on the Browns for the rest of this season and beyond.

Browns’ Biggest Problem Is Their Structure.

In the great debate regarding the Cleveland Browns, front office vs. coaching staff, we have been firmly committed as a member of Team Sashi.

That being said, if owner Jimmy Haslam felt adding GM John Dorsey meant adding a better talent evaluator to the front office to go along with Andrew Berry, we can’t argue too much.

However, it really doesn’t address the greatest issue with this football team, the coaching of Hue Jackson.

Jackson’s record of 1-28 as everyone knows, but our feeling is although the Browns need to add more very good players, especially at quarterback, to be a playoff contender, they have as much, if not more talent than other NFL teams who have managed to mix a win or two into their schedule.

The biggest problem is the ridiculous hierarchy Haslam has in place, with Dorsey, Paul DePodesta, and Jackson all reporting directly to the owner. Name another NFL team with that set up.

We get that since Sashi Brown did not have a lot of NFL personnel experience, it might not be a good idea to have the coach report to him.

But, why not let Dorsey bring in a coach he can work with and let him be the coach’s boss? That would seem put the coach and GM on the same page, a singular direction for the franchise that would be refreshing.

Besides, it would be a perfect time to do it too. Most likely, the Browns will use the first overall pick in next spring’s draft to get a quarterback, making it a perfect time to move forward with a GM, coach, and QB.

The problem is Haslam likes to have everyone report to him so he can be everyone’s friend. He owns the team, he can talk to anyone he wants, but the decision making capabilities should center around one person.

This also makes it easy to figure out who should take the blame.

If Jackson is brought back, the team runs the risk of having its new quarterback having to go through a coaching change during or after his rookie season. That would seem to be counter to the development of the player.

As we now know, Jackson’s reputation as a molder of young signal caller is vastly overrated, in fact, we really don’t want the coach around Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield, or whoever Dorsey takes at the top of the draft.

Also, you have to believe, in his heart of hearts, Dorsey would love to have his own guy in place as head coach, someone who shares his vision, and wants to carry out his plan.

It’s not like Jackson has shown much as the head coach either. His main attribute is the team is still playing hard, which is something that 28 other NFL teams can claim.

He’s a self promoter who threw his front office under the bus on a weekly basis, has huge issues with clock management, eschews the running game even though he has a rookie quarterback, and his team lacks discipline.

Why would Dorsey want him to lead this team for another season?

The Browns should not be this bad. Jackson’s team has lost when the QB played well, when the running game has been good, when the defense has been good.

However, there are two common themes: Losing and Hue Jackson.

Who Takes Blame For Browns’ Latest Loss?

It was a tumultuous week for the Cleveland Browns, especially on Thursday when Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown was fired by owner Jimmy Haslam, and replaced later that day by General Manager John Dorsey.

Amazingly, Hue Jackson was given a vote of confidence by the owner and it was announced he would be back for the 2018 season, despite a 1-27 record during his tenure.

With Dorsey in attendance at First Energy Stadium, the Browns blew a two touchdown lead they gained late in the third quarter, and lost to the Green Bay Packers in overtime, 27-21, dropping them to 0-13 on the season, and 1-28 since Jackson took over last year.

We have maintained most of the year that the Browns were not as bad as their record indicated, and today was another example, as Cleveland dominated much of the first three quarters, but couldn’t come up with the victory.

Jackson’s team outgained Green Bay, and held the Packers to under 100 yards rushing for the game, but lost because they played not to lose after scoring to make it a 21-7 game, and because of another horrible turnover by DeShone Kizer.

After that last score, with 2:49 left in the third quarter, it seemed Gregg Williams’ defense went into prevent mode, allowing Brett Hundley to complete short pass after short pass, leading to a 13 play, 75 yard drive to close the gap to 21-14.

After the first drive of the contest, the Browns’ defense hadn’t allowed the Packers much, so we don’t understand the change in philosophy. With three minutes to go in the game, we could understand it, but there were 18 minutes left.

It is worth noting that Jackson challenged a juggling catch, that clearly (on live look) appeared to be a catch, costing the Browns a timeout.

The score that tied the game was set up by a special teams’ gaffe, allowing Travis Davis to return a punt 65 yards to the Browns’ 25 with a little over two minutes to go.

Instead of pinning Green Bay deep in their own territory, they had a short field for the game tying score.

When was the last time the Cleveland special teams had a game without a glaring mistake?

Offensively, Jackson has talked all year about the lack of talent.

Granted, Josh Gordon just returned last week, but Isaiah Crowell, who had 121 yards on 19 carries, has been here all year.

Corey Coleman, criticized recently for being just an average player, caught five passes for 62 yards, and seems to be a good compliment for Gordon.

Unfortunately, TE David Njoku didn’t seem to be part of the game plan, catching just one pass for three yards.

Still, we saw some nice play calling. The game opened on a play action pass on first down, with Kizer hitting Gordon for 38 yards.

We also saw a number of screen passes, and even a shuffle pass in the red zone, which Duke Johnson turned into a touchdown.

We wonder where that has been all season.

However, with a chance to win, Kizer tried to make a big play when he should have eaten the ball, and threw an interception, his second of the day, when Clay Matthews Jr. hit his arm, forcing the ball to go straight up in the air, where it was picked off by Josh Jones.

That led to the game winning TD in overtime, and the Browns’ 14th straight loss.

File this one into the list of games the team could have won this season. It’s far too many for a team without a win.

There is talent on this football team, and thanks for that should go to the deposed Brown. Unfortunately, the problem is poor coaching, and at least for the time being, that problem still exists.

Front Office Or Coach, Who’s More To Blame For Browns.

The football fans of Northeast Ohio are at odds with each other.

Should the Browns keep the front office intact two years after Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Andrew Berry were put in charge of procuring players, and keep coach Hue Jackson, or should they keep Jackson and find a new director of football operations.

A third option would be to keep everyone in place for a third season.

Our opinion is that the front office stripped the team down to the bare bones following the 2015 season, and has started to put together a talented group of young players to grow and develop.

They haven’t addressed the quarterback position, but they will probably take care of that in this upcoming draft where they could have two top ten picks.

However, the offensive and defensive lines are strong, the linebackers are solid, and they seem to have a good group of tight ends.

This put them light years away from a couple of years ago when they simply weren’t good enough up front.

We have confidence that Brown and his cohorts in the front office will address the positions of weakness prior to next regular season.

Six players picked last season (2016) are currently starting: WR Corey Coleman, WR Ricardo Louis, T Shon Coleman, DE Emmanuel Ogbah, LB Joe Schobert, and S Derrick Kindred.

Only Louis can be considered questionable of that group.

Four rookies are starting: QB DeShone Kizer, DT Trevon Coley, DE Myles Garrett, and S Jabrill Peppers.

Garrett looks like he is as advertised, a very good pass rusher and a guy who can make All Pro teams.

And don’t forget CB/S Briean Boddy-Calhoun, TE Randall Telfair, TE Seth DeValve, and DE Carl Nassib who have shown flashes.

Have all the front office’s personnel moves worked? No, but name a team that is right 100% of the time in this area.

Our belief is that coach Hue Jackson is the bigger issue.

He started Kizer, a rookie and a second round pick from the opening game, but didn’t put in an offense that would’ve taken pressure off the kid, having him throwing downfield instead of running the ball and using a short passing game to help him out.

He also doesn’t seem to run the ball, Cleveland ranks 23rd in the NFL in rushing attempts, but is 12th in the league in yards per attempt. Something just doesn’t add up.

Meanwhile, Jackson’s squad is next to last in yards per pass attempt but they throw the ball the 4th most times in the league.

These statistics seem to indicate a coach who is either trying to lose football games or simply doesn’t have a clue as to how to use his personnel correctly.

Football people say tight ends are a quarterback’s best friends, but Kizer doesn’t seem to have been taught to use them. Rookie TE David Njoku has scored three touchdowns this year, but has caught just 20 passes, and plays less than 50% of the snaps.

Duke Johnson, another threat on offense, has caught 46 passes, the same number of rushing attempts he has on the season. This means he doesn’t even get 10 touches from scrimmage per game.

Add that to clock management mistakes, accepting penalties when he shouldn’t, and a general lack of discipline, and the fingers should point to Jackson, first and foremost.

Can Jackson change? He could, but we are skeptical because of the past.

The question we like to ask is this: Would another coach have one, two, or even three wins at this point in the schedule.

If you answer truthfully, then you know where the issue is.

Might Be Unpopular, But It’s Time For Hue To Go.

The Cleveland Browns played a competitive game for three quarters last Sunday in London, before their defense tired and they lost by 17 to Minnesota.

So far, that loss has been the highlight of the week.

Monday, the New England Patriots traded reserve QB Jimmy Garoppolo to another 0-8 team, the San Francisco 49ers for a second round pick. The Browns had interest in Garoppolo last spring, but the Patriots didn’t want to make a deal.

Then came the fiasco on Tuesday, in which, supposedly the team was dealing two picks (2nd and 3rd rounders) to Cincinnati for their backup QB, A.J. McCarron.

Yes, a guy who sits behind Andy Dalton.

However, allegedly a paperwork snafu nixed the deal, which is good because it’s not a good trade for the Browns.

The organization is looking bad and it appears the coaching staff is leaking tales of organizational dysfunction to the media.

Our solution is simple. It’s time to fire Hue Jackson.

There is an obvious disconnect between the front office and the coaching staff, and quite frankly in our opinion, Jackson isn’t living up to his end of the bargain.

Most football people felt the best way to protect a 21-year-old rookie quarterback would be to run the ball and play solid defense. No one expected a .500 season, but that formula should get the Browns a few victories, an improvement over last year’s single win.

This is a football team that really lost one player who was a major contributor a year ago, WR Terrelle Pryor. They added two free agent offensive linemen, a solid veteran CB in Jason McCourty, and three rookies who start, #1 overall pick Myles Garrett, S Jabrill Peppers, and TE David Njoku.

Yet, somehow they are worse.

The defense, which ranked 29th in the NFL in average yards per running play a year ago, now leads the league in that category.

To compound things, Jackson is consistently throwing the front office under the bus, claiming a lack of talent and needing to play “perfect football” to win.

Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Andrew Berry take the criticism for passing on Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson, but it has been reported that the head coach wanted Jared Goff last season, and wanted to draft Malik Hooker at #12 last spring, not Watson.

Meanwhile, the front office has overhauled a roster that was starting these players for most of the 2015 season–

Karlos Dansby, now 36 years old with Arizona
Donte Whitner, 32, no longer in NFL
Tramon Williams, 34, now with Arizona
Paul Kruger, 31, no longer in NFL
Randy Starks, 34, no longer in NFL

All those players started 14 games for Cleveland in 2015.

Is the front office perfect? No, they let Mitchell Schwartz, now starting for perhaps the best team in the league in Kansas City, walk away.

They traded LB Demario Davis, who could help the current roster as well.

The roster isn’t a finished product. The Browns still need help at quarterback and wide receiver, a stud running back, and help in the defensive secondary.

In our opinion the Brown and his crew know this, and this will be the focus of the off-season.

Jackson is supposed to be an expert on quarterbacks, but just what is that based on? Who has he really made an top flite passer? Dalton? Joe Flacco? Certainly, not any of the men he has had with the Browns.

The Browns need everyone in the organization to be on the same page. And right now, that is not the case.

We get it would not be a popular decision. Jackson is well liked within NFL circles, while Brown and DePodesta are seen as outsiders.

But who has done a better job over the last two years? It seems silly to reward the guy who seems to be coaching an offensive scheme for players he wishes he had, not the players currently on the roster.

Why Is Hue Held Blameless?

We understand how it goes when covering a team. Reporters talk to the coaches everyday, and unless the coach is a total jerk, we are sure they develop a good relationship.

And when you cover the Cleveland Browns, and the front office representative, Sashi Brown is kind of condescending to the media, it is probably natural to support the coach when at all possible.

However, in watching the games, it is hard to see if objectivity is used, why the front office should be under attack.

One veteran media member said yesterday that the Kenny Britt signing is proof that Brown is over his head as Executive Vice President of the team. What?

Wouldn’t the signing of CB Jason McCourty alone counteract the Britt acquisition?

And that’s not even bringing up getting Jamie Collins, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, and Jamar Taylor in trades or guys brought in off the waiver wire.

While the “you have to have a football man in charge” people don’t want to admit it, the two drafts the Brown regime has overseen has more promising players chosen than most drafts in recent memory.

Another reporter wrote after Sunday’s loss to the Jets that Jackson couldn’t be blamed because Zane Gonzalez missed two field goals and DeShone Kizer turned it over twice in the red zone. Huh?

He’s in charge, right? He gets credit when players play well.

He’s developed the game plan that put in an audible for an option pitch near the goal line that resulted in a fumble. The second turnover was simply an awful throw by Kizer.

Jackson is also the coach who didn’t put in a system to protect a 21-year-old rookie quarterback. Look at the two quarterbacks most media members bring up as guys the front office blew it by passing on.

Carson Wentz is having a fine season for the 4-1 Eagles. But his offense is also 4th in the NFL in rushing. Deshaun Watson, passed over this season, is playing well too, but the Texans are 3rd in running the football.

The Browns rank 23rd in rushing and this past week gave their quarterback more carries than Duke Johnson had touches.

The failure to commit to the running game is on the coach, it’s not Sashi Brown’s fault.

In fact, Brown spent a ton of money on two offensive linemen, both of whom start for the 2017 Browns.

We also read someone bemoaning the players the front office let go, bringing up Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz. Mack started in the Super Bowl, and Schwartz starts for the NFL’s best team in Kansas City.

Those are fair criticisms.

Then, Terrelle Pryor was brought up. The same Pryor who has 13 catches for 186 yards on the season to date. Heck. Ricardo Louis has 15 receptions for 204 yards.

Also mentioned? Gary Barnidge, who isn’t on an NFL roster.

And of course, Joe Haden is always brought up. Haden is still a decent cornerback in the NFL, but he no longer can match up with top receivers. Stop comparing him to the memories of him four years ago before the injuries took their toll.

Yesterday, a member of the Browns’ broadcast crew admitted Cleveland has more talent than the Jets, the team that defeated them last Sunday. They are now 3-2 on the season.

So, why can’t the Browns win some games? We aren’t advocating firing the head coach because the organization can’t keep doing that.

However, it is time to start holding the coaching staff accountable. Don’t protect him because he’s a good guy, and point the finger at someone who you don’t know.

Panic Regarding Browns Is Unfounded…For Now.

The Cleveland Browns have started 0-2 once again this year, and we think it is a reflex for the fans and media alike to start thinking another disastrous season is ahead for the team.

While it is a possibility that Hue Jackson ends the season with a 2-14 season, we still think that the 5-11 mark we expect is still very much in play.

We know the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns’ opponent in the home opener are the favorites to win the AFC North, and for all we know, the Baltimore Ravens could be a 10 win team as well.

That’s why you can’t overreact to things after just two weeks.

The next four games come against opponents which should give people an idea if the Browns have indeed improved from the 1-15 mark a year ago, and being widely regarded as the worst team in the NFL.

Next week, Cleveland visits Indianapolis to visit a Colts team that is without Andrew Luck and has the same record as Jackson’s squad at 0-2.

They will be starting Jacoby Brisset, making his fourth career start, a far cry from Super Bowl winners Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco.

The Colts lost to playoff contender Arizona in overtime on Sunday, but were hammered by the Rams in week one. Let’s just say the Browns’ foes are in a higher class than those teams.

Then come home games against Cincinnati and the New York Jets, both sitting at 0-2, the same as Cleveland.

The Bengals have already replaced their offensive coordinator, and have looked dreadful against the Ravens and Texans.

Meanwhile, the Jets are copying what Sashi Brown did a year ago, jettisoning many older players and collecting draft picks, probably in an effort to take a shot at the possible franchise quarterbacks coming out in the 2018 NFL Draft.

They are starting Josh McCown at QB, and their losses have been against another rebuilding team in Buffalo, and a pummeling by the Raiders.

Then comes another road game at Houston (1-1), a team whose win is against Cincinnati and they lost to another team that usually drafts in the top ten, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

These four opponents are more in the Browns’ “weight class” than the mighty Steelers and the perennial playoff contender Ravens.

This isn’t to say the Browns will win all four games, or even two of them, but they have a better shot at victories against this quartet than they did in the first two games.

And remember that Cleveland is starting a rookie quarterback, and it would be more the norm than not to expect up and down performances from a player just entering the league.

However, we would still like to see a more simplistic approach from the coaching staff. We would like to see more of an emphasis on the ground game using an offensive line that the front office spent a boatload of money on.

For all we know right now, the Steelers and the Ravens could be two of the three or four best teams in the AFC. If you can’t get some victories against the next four teams, then there will be reason for panic and concern.

Right now, Browns fans just need to relax just a little bit.